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The establishment licence holder must ensure that a record is kept of any advice given by the AWERB and any
decisions taken as a result. These records must be kept for at least three years and must be made available to an
inspector, or the Secretary of State, on request.
Codes of practice and guidance notes
The Home Office issues policy statements and additional guidance and advice on specific issues which are
available on the Home Office"s website: www.gov.uk/research-and-testing-using-animals. The site contains a lot
of explanatory material relating to personal and project licences and how to apply for these and, even as a lay
person, it is well worth exploring.
Amongst other things there are a range of guidance documents, for example on assessing the severity of scientific
procedures on animals; Codes of Practice, e.g. on animal housing and care; and ASPA e-newsletters; with links to
non-technical summaries of project licences granted under ASPA, and to annual statistics on the use of animals in
scientific procedures.
A series of guidance documents produced by the EU are also relevant and very helpful. These can be found
at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/interpretation_en.htm. This page is part of a wider
range of information about regulation of laboratory animal use in the EU, which covers, amongst other things,
legislation and its implementation; the 3Rs; project evaluation and harm/benefit; retrospective assessment;
severity assessment; Animal Welfare Bodies; and statistics of laboratory animal use in the EU. See also:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/related_topics_en.htm.